· Develop your Self Esteem:
We all have to develop a burning
desire to succeed despite our circumstances.
We must have belief in ourselves.
It fuels confidence and enhances our ability to deal with situations.
Eleanor
Roosevelt, former
American President said “No one can make you inferior without your permission”
Indira
Ghandi “No one can
take away your self esteem without your consent”
It is not where you are coming from,
or the circumstances that you have been through, that matters, it’s how you
interpret and react to what happens to you.
Abraham
Maslow “Unhappiness/unease
and unrest in the world today is caused by people living far below their
capacity.
So, it is not who your parents were,
or what they have that matters, it’s who you are and what you do that counts.
- 52%
of 500 fortune CEOs – were from lower/middle class/poor families in America.
- 80%
of millionaires in America are first generation millionaires.
- 75%
of world class company leaders were raised in poverty /abused as kids and had
physical disability.
- Life
is basically 10% what happens to me and 90% how you react to it.
·
Commitment to Excellence at all
times
Excellence is not an act, but a
habit. We are what we repeatedly
do. We all must be committed to
excellence. It’s either we are number one
in whatever we do or nothing - Execution.
Even the scriptures supports this in (Corinthians
1:10) – “whatever we lay our hands, we should commit excellence to it.
- 80% constraint to success is within us.
- 20% constraint to success is outside us, the
choice is ours.
·
Visionary
We should be able to see what the
normal eyes can’t see! Eyes that are looking are common, eyes that see are
rare. Sight is a function of eyes, but
vision a function of the heart. There is no greater source of
hope/confidence than that of Vision.
Every act that has positively impacted human history was a result of
Vision. Vision is key to unity, the
magnet for commitment and motivational stimuli for personal/corporate
discipline – Myes Munroe.
·
Commit to Learning:
Stephen
Covey, author of 7 Habits of Effective People
said
“All information we have today has a 21/2 year life span,
after which they either change/become obsolete. We all must be a lifelong student. Always
read books. You should invest 3% of your
monthly income back to yourself – inform of partial development, books,
courses, training, etc.
- If
you read 30 minutes a day, it’s equivalent to one book a week which translates
to 52 books in a year
- Equivalent
to a PHD degree in any chosen discipline.
Because to obtain a PHD degree in most disciplines, you need to read at
least 50 books and above and do a citation and book review to attain such feat.
We also spend 500–1000 hours behind
wheels each year because of traffic jam.
- This
is equivalent to 3–6 months (40 hours week).
If you convert these hours to listen to audio tapes in your car for this
period it’s equivalent to 1 year – 2 years Full time university attendance in
University of Southern California
Learn about our customers, our
industry, our products and about the world around us. You cannot give what you don’t have. As leaders if we do not develop ourselves, we
cannot develop or impact on those beneath us.
·
Trust, Integrity, Discipline
Trust is one of the ageless elements
of any peak performance officer. We must
trust ourselves. No Trust, no
Commitment, no Skye Bank. Treat people
as they ought to be and help them become what they are capable of being.
Integrity
is the mother of
all values that cement our society.
Honesty is the principle of telling the truth, but integrity is keeping
promises made to our customers, our love ones and ourselves.
Even the scriptures supports this in
Proverbs 20:7, “Godly work with
integrity bless their children after them”
Looks/beauty
fades over time but integrity endures forever. Without
integrity, no one listens, without Trust no one follows you. You
cannot demand love/loyalty, they are earned.
Men
of genius are admired, men of wealth envied, men of power feared, but me of
character are trusted.
·
Discipline
Power to subordinate what you want now
for what you want in future. It’s the
act of getting things done, no matter
the odds. Be disciplined, make sacrifices, they bring pain, but pain is temporary
while growth is permanent.
·
Persistence: Is
never giving up no matter initial difficulties.
Execution is the act of getting
things done. The secret of getting
things done is knowing what to leave undone.
Abraham
Lincoln, former American President
Got
defeated in several elections as he also failed in most endeavours - in school,
in business, in several elections in Senate, House of Representative, Governorship,
etc, before he became American President
in 1860.
Leonardo
Da Vinci – one of
the world’s greatest artists.
It took him 10 years to paint the “last Super” – one of the most acclaimed paintings in the world.
Michael
Angelo – one of the
world’s greatest artist.
It took him 10 years to paint the “last Judgment” – one of the most acclaimed paintings in the world.
Noah
Webster -
It took him 36 years to compose the Webster dictionary.
Walt
Disney –
Was rejected by 300 banks before the
301st gave him the loan to establish the Disney World that all take
their kids to in Orlando, Florida, USA.
·
Team Work: “One is too small to achieve greatness”.
Nothing of significance can be achieved
by an individual acting or working alone. Working in the same office, on the
same grade, wearing the same uniform, been paid same salary does not make a
TEAM.
The
glue that holds a team is the unity of purpose shared and agreed by all.
Chinese Proverb –
“To build for one year, - grow wheat
To build for 10 years, - grow trees
To build for 100 years, – invest in people”.
Eighty seven percent (87%) of people
fail in life not because of capability but because of personality. People don’t fail because they cannot do the
JOB but because they can’t get along with others.
·
Humility
This is the ability to control
power, knowing who we are but not boasting about it. Pride
is evidence of low self–esteem, while Egoism is a manifestation of Pride/Insecurity. The arrogance of a young man is direct result
of not having known enough consequences.
“The Turkey that everyday
greedily approaches the farmer who tosses him grain is not wrong. It is just that no one ever told him about
thanksgiving”.
The
tree that has most fruits is the tree that bends to the ground.
Humility should never be equated to
weakness. People often mistake it for
that. It is not an act but an attitude, an attitude of serving, caring for others
more than yourself.
It
is a magnetic force that attracts goodwill from people and honor those who
possess it. Those who achieved and possess
this quality are blessed beyond their wildest dreams.
The
measure of a true great leader is the courtesy with which he treats lesser men.
·
Giving:
Always give more than you expect to
receive. The secret of success is
giving. It could be knowledge, skill,
information, etc, that will make other people succeed in life. “Givers
Never Lack”.
“The
highest riches are beyond the reach of money and are independent of
fortune. It is the mind that makes the
body rich. No man is rich, however much
money or land he possesses who has a poor heart”.
The more favours we do to others
without expectation of repayment, the more powers and influence you have over
people. “No man can become rich without
enriching others”.
We all shall be judged someday by
your standard of life, not standard of living; by your measure of giving, not
measure of wealth; by your goodness, not your seeming greatness.
·
Networking:
Your network is your net-worth. The people you know in life are your
net-worth – expand your coast.
It’s my strong belief that if we all
exhibit these attributes in the years ahead, we shall succeed in life.
·
Get a Mentor
No one gets anywhere in life without
the help of others. Get a Mentor.
·
Avoid Gossips
Great people talk about ideas
Average people talk about themselves
Small people talk about others
·
Financial Independence
10% - charity
10% - reduce debt
10% - save
70% - live on that
·
Connecting With
People
To add value to
others we MUST first value others.
Leadership is all about caring for your people. It’s about love. A good leader must care for
people, just as they are. You can give without loving, but when you
love, you must give.
One of the best
stories I ever read that illustrated this point was told by a Nurse
“During my second
year of Nursing School, our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read
the last one: what is the name of the woman who cleans the school? Surely this
was a joke I thought. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name. I handed in my paper, leaving the last
question blank. Before the class ended,
one student asked if the last question would count towards our grade. “Absolutely”, the professor said.
“In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are
significant. They deserve your attention
and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello. I have never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was DOROTHY”.
To succeed in life,
we must learn to work with and through others.
One person work alone cannot accomplish much. As John Craig points out…
“No matter how much work you can do, no matter how
engaging your personality may be, you will not advance far in life/business if
you cannot work through others”. That requires you
to see the values that others possess.
Pride is evidence of low self–esteem, while Egoism is a
manifestation of Pride/Insecurity.
·
Care for the Temple
Your body – exercise regularly. One hour of exercise adds additional three
hours to your life.
Eat healthy foods – in sound body lies a sound soul.
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